"Broken Pieces"

“Broken Pieces”

 

One of the most familiar of Jesus’ miracles is His feeding of the 5000. (It’s the only one recorded in all four gospels.) At the end of Matthew’s account we’re told “…the disciples picked up twelve basketfuls of broken pieces that were left over.” (Matthew 14:20). The same phrase is used for the seven basketfuls remaining after Jesus fed 4000 people on another occasion (Matthew 15:37). So when God is at work everything, including broken pieces of bread, has value.

In a recent devotional in Our Daily Bread Elisa Morgan told of Japanese women who picked up remnants of china after the devastating 2011 earthquake and made them into jewelry to provide income for them and their families. So something worthwhile and beautiful was made out of broken items to meet needs during a trying time.

King Solomon observed, “(God) has made everything beautiful in its time.” (Ecclesiastes 3:11). And this includes each one of us. So He looks beyond our warts, failures and sin and sees us as lovely and objects of His delight (“…The saints…are the glorious ones in whom is my delight.”—Psalm 16:3). Bill and Gloria Gaither put this thought to music in two of their songs. In “I Will Serve Thee” they write, “Heartaches, broken pieces, ruined lives are why You died on Calvary.” And in “Something Beautiful” they say, “All I had to offer Him was brokenness and strife, But He made something beautiful of my life.”

In an episode of the 1994-2003 TV series “Touched by an Angel” Monica is speaking with a man she was sent to help. When he told her his life was messed up beyond repair she responded, “God can put any life back together, but we must give Him the pieces.” He invites us to come to Him with our weariness and burdens (our broken pieces) and “Get away with me and you’ll recover your life.” (Matthew 11:28, The Message). When we do so He can reassemble us and (in the Gaithers’ words) “make something beautiful of my life”. But I must allow Him to do it—and so must you. Remember, “God…is faithful.” (1 Corinthians 1:9) and “…he who began a good work in you will carry it on to completion until the day of Christ Jesus.” (Philippians 1:6).

 

Grace and Blessings!

Jim McMillan